Prelude of Sorrow

the blood moon, source: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/blood-moon-nasa-eclipse.jpg

I  got a little inspired by an astronomical event called the Blood Moon that occurred earlier this day (which was sadly not visible in South-East Asia) to formulate a possible return of IGA's Castlevania storyline which serves as the final nail to the long history of the line of Matthias and the generations of Belmont.
While it sounds too exhausting to still continue the fight that Leon Belmont and Matthias started until the end of time, a Battle of 1999 adaptation would likely give the franchise one of the greatest farewells in video game history, that is to say Konami cannot and should definitely not end Castlevania with Lords of Shadow.

A little bit of theories and history

Julius Belmont, introduced first in Aria of Sorrow, is so far the most recent Belmont to vanquish the evil that looms in the darkness. But we never got to see or experience the infamous Battle of 1999 where Julius kicked Dracula's cold butt so hard, he had to align himself to the good side in the form of Soma Cruz. We all know that Aria and Dawn of Sorrow are the two Castlevanias that gave Symphony of the Night a run for its money, so why not cash in on the epicness of the two Sorrow titles to produce the solid backbone, the prequel that made the events of Aria and Dawn possible. Besides, who wouldn't want to have Julius as a bad ass main character? During Aria of Sorrow, he was already around 50 years of age and even if he was handicapped by amnesia, he was still capable of Grand Crossing the heck out of Soma and the whole Castle during his boss fight in the Floating Garden.

the hero of 1999, the strongest 'vampire hunter of his time' (pic source: http://castlevania.wikia.com/)

The last Belmont that came before Julius was far behind history. Portrait of Ruin happened during World War II and the hero of that story were Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin along with the ghost of Eric Lacarde and his daughters Stella and Loretta. There were no Belmonts except the memory of the whip which was Richter Belmont. In terms of the chronological release of the games, Juste was the last Belmont to wield the whip but he didn't exactly vanquish Dracula during the events of Harmony of Dissonance.
This further supports the idea of Julius being a crucial part of the Belmont vs. Dracula history.

The last mention of Belmont before the events of Portrait of Ruin was during the events of Order of Ecclesia. In this story, our heroine, Shanoa, who during her quest, saves a whole village who are known as descendants of the Belmont family but none of them bore the name of Belmont firsthand.

Richter Belmont - the 'strongest Belmont' to exist, and the last Belmont before Julius (pic source: http://castlevania.wikia.com/)

So how come Julius Belmont suddenly popped out of nowhere when the whole Belmont line has vanished for more than a hundred years?

Not only will the return of the metroidvania style of the Castlevania greatly appeal to the fans but the story will definitely answer quite a lot of questions while giving us one last pleasure of raiding Castle Dracula and kicking his azz.

Possible game mechanics

The Sorrow titles are well known because of the innovative Soul system. While we've had the Heart system (present in most Castlevanias), the Glyph system (Order of Ecclesia), the Spell Books (Harmony of Dissonance), the Tag Team, Ability, Spell and Dual Crush system (Portrait of Ruin) none of the systems that followed the innovation of Symphony of the Night got so far as Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. However, it should be noted that Julius is a Belmont and not a vampire capable of Soul Steal so it's safe to assume that either a new concept is introduced or the possible new game would feature the return of a favorite concept from past games. The favorite would either be the Heart system or the Ability system.

We first got to play using the power of Julius in JULIUS mode of both Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. He displayed every skill a Belmont should know especially their landmark skills such as throwing the Boomerang Cross, setting the floor ablaze using an enchanted holy water, the high jump, the drop kick and, of course, the Grand Cross.

While it may seem reasonable to start with the Vampire Hunter immediately in the game, it'd be more interesting if Julius started out as a brash young man who's still not valid to wield the famed whip. During the battle of 1999, Julies would still be either 19 or 20 years of age quite possibly the youngest Belmont to take the stage. Imagine the world is threatened to be plunged into darkness yet again and you, a Belmont, has greatness immediately pushed on to you hoping that you'd be the vanguard, the first and last line of defense against the threat. Doesn't it sound like Julius wasn't the man we all knew prior to the events of the Sorrow titles?

If the story from the previous eras are connected, then the events of Portrait of Ruin would immediately be followed by the Battle of 1999. Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin would likely reappear as their aged versions acting as Julius' mentors. Even the Lecarde twins returning as supporting characters sounds rational. After all, we know that the 'Church' got involved in the Battle of 1999 as well as the reappearance of the Castle in the eclipse of 2035.

Besides, the Belmonts were first introduced as barbaric warriors until the years passed by until they became knights in shining armour with hair that flows with the wind.
Wouldn't it be symbolic if Julius started out as brash and arrogant (barbaric) and his character would eventually evolve as the story progresses into someone noble, disciplined and strong-willed (knight).
While he's still brash and arrogant, he's still invalid from wielding the Vampire Hunter until he has learned the true value of the whip and his lineage.

The toughest parts of theorizing about the possible course of the Battle of 1999 are the trigger, the purpose and how it ends. The ending of the story is already known since Aria of Sorrow, what we're all interested to know is how badly did Julius defeated Dracula for him to reincarnate maybe some 20 years later into Soma Cruz. There's also the question about how all of these started. The Battle of 1999, what was in that event? What were the threats, the consequences and the purpose on why it became so big of a deal.
Usually the previous battles against Dracula weren't all that publicly known but Battle of 1999 sounds too big to be considered a private matter between the Belmonts and Dracula.

Ultimately, it's still Konami's decision whether to continue with the silly Lords of Shadows franchise or finally end with the spin-off and get back on track in the established story of Mr. Koji Igarashi and his team.
There's still some left in Castlevania, and even now the hype regarding the Battle of 1999, Julius and Dracula is still so big that we're still replaying Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow just to quell the overflowing excitement that long wait for the Battle of 1999 brings.

A Sad Realization

Perhaps one of the reasons why a Battle of 1999 game is being kept from materialization is because the ending would probably be not such a happy one for Julius. Think about it, the first time we meet him is in Dracula's castle sealed in the eclipse. He has amnesia and, though strong, far from his prime strength. But we never got to know anything about him aside from his mission during the Battle of 1999. Sure he has friends in the church (Yoko, Alucard/Arikado) but that was post-Aria of Sorrow.

Julius, known as J for the majority of Aria of Sorrow, had no memory of his past and when he regained them, he made no mention of a family or his life after the events of 1999. Basically he lived the majority of his life wandering with amnesia until he meets Soma and regains his memories in Aria of Sorrow.
It sounds a little tragic for a hero responsible for ending the reign of Dracula. It just becomes more tragic once we start to realize that the Battle of 1999 could have been so destructive that he.was.the.only.survivor.